Patheon, Parexel, and others - People on the move
in the world of pharmaceutical outsourcing.
Patheon has finally announced a replacement CEO after over a year with Riccardo Trecroce temporarily at the helm. As of December 10, Wesley Wheeler will take over the position, the Canadian firm announced. He joins the company from California-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals, where he served as president. Patheon has been experiencing a long period of financial difficulty, largely stemming from its troubled Puerto Rico site, which it gained as part of the acquisition of contract manufacturer Mova Pharmaceutical in November 2004. Last September, the Toronto-based company announced that it had established a committee to evaluate a range of strategic and financial alternatives for the company, and has since then been in discussions with several parties regarding various options and as a result, is now in the midst of serious restructuring efforts. In April the firm announced its intentions to distance itself from making over-the-counter drugs and focus on the more cash rich prescription drug manufacturing sector, and in doing so, would be selling some of its production facilities in Ontario and transferring other operations to other sites. Recently, Parexel has also announced a new appointment, bringing on board Victor Kiri as Director of Pharmacoepidemiology within its Clinical Research Services business. Kiri joins the contract research organisation (CRO) from GlaxoSmithKline, where he managed epidemiology research. He will now be in charge of guiding customers on the most appropriate design and conduct of observational studies. Meanwhile, Wyeth has promoted Joseph Mahady to the new position of president of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and senior vice president of Wyeth. Mahady will move from his current role as president of global business for Wyeth's pharmaceutical business, to take up his new post as of 1 January. In other news, the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) also recently announced its newly elected international board of directors for 2007-2008. Revealing the new board at its annual meeting in Las Vegas, ISPE named its new leaders including new Chair Bruce Davis (AstraZeneca global capital director) and Vice Chair Charles Hoiberg (Pfizer executive director, regulatory CMC).
